Niko Bonatsos has departed General Catalyst after leading the firm’s seed strategy for years. He is known for backing companies like the IPO-hopeful Discord and the ten-billion-dollar startup Mercor. Bonatsos told TechCrunch he plans to launch a new early-stage venture capital firm alongside “friends.”
Bonatsos is the latest investor to leave General Catalyst, a firm that has recently expanded beyond the traditional venture model. In recent years, General Catalyst has unveiled a wealth management business, a strategy focused on private equity-style AI roll-ups, and a Customer Value Fund, which provides late-stage startups with non-dilutive financing secured by recurring revenue.
Other recent departures from General Catalyst include Deep Nishar and Kyle Doherty, who co-led the late-stage ‘Endurance’ strategy, and Adam Valkin, who co-led the early-stage fund alongside Bonatsos and Trevor Oelschig.
Unlike his former colleagues, who declined to comment on their departures, Bonatsos described his exit as a mutual decision. He called his time at General Catalyst an awesome experience that provided many learnings.
Bonatsos said he has not yet chosen a name for his new firm or begun fundraising. He declined to specify the size of his team, noting only that the individuals he is considering include founders and investors at the top of their game.
Some of the themes Bonatsos intends to pursue include backing young founders, a trend he claims to have identified several years ago before it became popular. Many of the leading founders in the current AI wave are young and include college dropouts like Mercor’s founder, Brendan Foody.
Bonatsos is also interested in investing in founders who are launching consumer businesses. He views this sector as underappreciated in a market currently saturated with enterprise-focused AI startups.
Although General Catalyst has transitioned into what it calls an investment and transformation company, it continues to make seed-stage bets. Last year, the firm hired Yuri Sagalov, a former Y Combinator partner and founder of Wayfinder Ventures, to lead seed investing in the United States.